Sunday, 25 January 2015

The Nebra Sky disc

Hi Everybody!

Brrrr, we had a cold day here. It started snowing early this morning, and caused havoc on the roads as usual. I went into town to meet a friend, the trams were running late, and there was snow and  ice everywhere.  It stopped snowing after a few hours, a lot has melted away, but we are expecting minus temperatures during the night, so it will be icy tomorrow.

For Art Journal journey I was inspired by an artist who lived 3600 years ago. I don't know his name, but he created the wonderful sky disc of Nebra out of bronze and gold. 

This is the original:


(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
The sky disc is one of the most important archaeological finds of the past century. It shows the world's oldest known depiction of astronomical phenomena. Features of the night and day sky are mixed against a background of an abstract representation of the starry sky. Between the horizons, a ship is making a nocturnal journey across the heavenly ocean. The sky disc lets us glimpse our ancestors' knowledge of the course of the universe and its religious interpretation 3600 years ago.
For my journal page I painted an A3 sheet with a mix of blue and green metallic paints and added some bronze patina. Then I spritzed gold ink onto it to make the stars. The heavenly symbols have been cut from gold leaf. The Hebrew text is the first verse of the Book of Genesis, 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth'





Some pictures of the snow taken from my balcony this morning:





These pictures were taken yesterday afternoon. The hawk and a crow were sitting in the tree, and the crow was making a huge noise squawking at the hawk. Then the hawk flew off,  followed by a loudly squawking and protesting crow - too funny!



Have a good day you all, take care, 
and thanks a lot for coming by!

30 comments:

  1. I think one of those birds was being territorial. Great pictures of very cold day. Love your interpretation of the Nebra Sky Disc. Great job. It is a mystery of who created it, but whoever did gave us a beautiful piece to see and wonder about it. Have a great rest of the weekend.

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  2. Beautiful interpretation of that ancient art, interesting. Icy weather is the worst, so dangerous.

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  3. Eine herrliche Interpretation dieser großartigen vorgeschichtlichen Kunst hast Du da gewerkelt Valerie! Ich mag die goldenen Elemente - das wirkt einfach toll gegen das blau grün des Hintergrunds!
    Ich hoffe das Eis belibt Dir heute erspart und danke auch für die schönen Bilder, die Du heute wieder zeigst!
    Und ich danke im Namen von Art Journal Journey!
    knuddel
    schönen Sonntag
    Susi

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  4. This is beautiful and very interesting Val, how good that it survived so many years. Love your version, the colours and Hebrew calligraphy make it very special. The family is on its way, so I must start cooking, they are always extra hungry when they get here! Have a nice day, hugs, Sarah

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  5. Amazing photographs of the snow and birds Valerie. Hope you enjoyed your train trip in the snow.

    Such a beautiful piece of artwork with a lot of depth and I loved the research you had done into the original disc. I had never heard of it before.

    Have a good day and walk safely if the weather is still the same.

    Love Chrissie

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  6. Oh brr, thankfully the I've here has all gone, the pavements were treacherous. Love your golden sky, I've never seen that bronze before, it's fascinating. Enjoy your Sunday and keep cosy! Xx

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  7. Gorgeous art page, the text matches this page so well.
    Love the winter photographs, stay safe on your walks.
    Yvonne xx

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  8. It amazes me the places where you find your inspiration Valerie! Beautiful piece!! I am one of those rare people who actually enjoys the cool weather and the snow, so I am just completely in love with the gorgeous shots you took from your balcony this morning...what a wonderful view you have!! Have a great Sunday, hugs until next time :)

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  9. Your interpretation of the Nebra Sky Disc is just gorgeous! Gorgeous photos of the snow from your balcony. It always looks so nice in the trees. Do be careful with the ice!

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  10. Das ist ja ulkig! Ich habe mir auch prähistorische Kunst vorgenommen. Finde ich so faszinierend, wie deine Interpretation der Nebra Sky Disc.
    Deine Photos sind mal wieder Superklasse. Schön wenn so eine kleine Geschichte dahinter steckt wie bei der Krähe und dem Falken.
    LG
    Gabriele

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  11. Your Nebra sky is superb Valerie!! The view from your balcony is lovely. Just like Narnia :D :D

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  12. It definitely looks like winter in your neck of the woods :) Love the journal page ♥ The original piece is amazing!

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  13. Gorgeous, powerful and meaningful painting. We got snow last night too; a fresh layer since it all melted this past week.
    Hugs,
    Teresa

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  14. Eine wunderbare Kreation und Interpretation! Tolle Idee! Das Gold sieht auf diesem blaugrünen Hintergrund großartig aus!
    Bei uns ist der Schnee schon fast wieder getaut und es regnet mal wieder!
    Liebe Grüße, Annette

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    1. Wir hatten hier auch Regen, aber es liegt noch viel Schnee.

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  15. We have the same snowly landscape about now. Much more to come - a couple of feet on Tuesday. Your gold piece will send some heat your way. xox

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  16. Hi Valerie, Lovely art piece and your interpretation of the Nebra Sky Disc.
    Love seeing your snowy pics. We are warm here in Texas but the east coast of the U.S. is heading into a storm of major proportions. They are saying the worst in history.
    Wishing you a nice week ahead.
    Hugs

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  17. Absolutely gorgeous Valerie! You know I love the Hebrew writing - I can't think of a better image to put your chosen text with.
    Sandy xx

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  18. Oh my gosh, Valerie. Friday you were capturing photos of toadstools and today snow everywhere. I hope you stay off the icy streets and paths in the morning. Your art project is perfect for the PaperArtsy challenge also. The metallic elements you added to your project along with the Hebrew printing are amazing. I had never viewed the Nebra disc; what an amazing piece created so long ago. Love the photos of the fresh snow on the trees; hope it melts quickly and warms up as well.

    Love,
    C

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  19. Both yours and the original are totally beautiful and fascinating! ~Diane

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  20. Au, ich staune, denn bei euch ist viel mehr Schnee als hier, wo das Wenige auch schon schnell wieder weg getaut war.
    Irre ist dein Foto vom Raubvogel mit der Krähe zusammen! Hier kann ich oft beobachten, wie die Krähen ihr Revier gegen die Bussarde aggressiv verteidigen und diese regelrecht jagen.

    Sehr gut gefällt mir deine Nebra-Scheiben-Inspiration in diesen wunderbaren Farben.
    Ganz liebe Grüße von Ulrike

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  21. Such a beautiful piece you've created here dear Valerie and the addition of the Hebrew text adds so much!
    I had to giggle when I first saw the original piece as it reminded me a little bit of a smiley face *gg*
    it really is a fantastic treasure.
    Your snow looks pretty and those crows are fearless or is the hawk just patient ;-)
    Stay warm and cozy.
    oxo

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  22. What a wonderful inspiration - the sky disc. Just lovely.
    As is the snow (which I have plenty of this early morning, with more on its way).
    Stay warm, safe and merry creating!

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  23. Wie cool - du hast dich super inspirieren lassen.

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  24. Oooh your sky disc (nearly put dish then - very Freudian lol) is lovely, and it's perfect with your text. I agree the original is like a smiley face. Those bird photographs are wondful, though I wouldn't like to be a bird in this weather xx

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  25. Love the Nebra Disc! Those colors speak to me. And did you ever see hawks and crows do an "air fight"? So funny!

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